More Beetles 



shall soon reach the origins of the zoological 

 series. What begins at all? The Proto- 

 zoon. How? With a drop of albumen. 

 The whole succession of living creatures has 

 gradually proceeded from this first clot of 

 protoplasm. 



As an effort of the imagination, this is 

 magnificent. But the observable facts, which 

 alone are worthy of admission to the stern 

 records of science, the facts corroborated by 

 experiment, cannot keep pace with the Proto- 

 zoon. They tell us that, as food is the pri- 

 mordial factor of life, digestive capacities 

 should be handed down by atavistic in- 

 heritance even more than are the length of 

 the antennae, the colour of the wing-cases and 

 other details of quite secondary importance. 

 To bring about the present state of affairs, 

 in which the diet is so varied, the precursors 

 must have eaten a little of everything. They 

 ought to have bequeathed to their descen- 

 dants an omnivorous regimen, which is a 

 notable cause of prosperity. 



A common origin would inevitably lead to 



a common diet. Instead of this, what do we 



see? Each species has its narrowly limited 



tastes, which have no reference to the tastes 



236 



